Jackals Snap Franchise Record Losing Streak

March 3, 2005 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Glens Falls, NY - The Elmira Jackals broke their 11-game losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Adirondack Frostbite Wednesday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center in the debut of Head Coach Dave Schultz.

Playing without the services of Darren Van Oene who was called up to the Worcester Ice Cats (AHL) one day after being sent down by the Manchester Monarchs, Elmira was forced to dress 17 players Wednesday night; Chris Shaw still nursing a shoulder injury and Jamie Thompson being placed on team suspension. Things started slow as Nathan Gillies was called for holding just 21 seconds into the game and Adirondack out-shot the Jackals 5-0 in the first six minutes. The Frostbite opened the scoring just after the media timeout as a David Burgess wrist shot from the slot beat Greg Hewitt at 10:54, giving Adirondack a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes.

In the second period the shot totals continued to favor the home side, but Jason Sessa sparked a big Jackals turn around. Sessa scored twice to leap-frog Elmira into the lead. First Sessa scored at 2:10 assisted by Jeff Antonovich and Carl Drakensjo off a rebound in the low slot. He then scored his second goal of the period at 7:12 when his snap-shot hit goaltender Kris Tebbs but kept going into the net; assisted by Antonovich and Trevor Burgess.

In the third period the Jackals found themselves in unfamiliar territory, trying to hold a 2-1 lead. Elmira looked very close to winning this game in regulation, but then Corey Foster was called for a high-sticking penalty with 1:39 remaining in the game. On the ensuing power play, with Tebbs pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage, Scott Drevitch tied the game at 18:59.

In the shootout, Sessa scored to open the first round, but Adirondack tied it in the third round with Justin Kelly's attempt. The goaltenders look phenomenal as this shootout went to 9 rounds before Derek Campbell lifted a back-hand shot over the glove side of Tebbs to snap the 11-game Elmira losing streak.

Greg Hewitt earned his 15th win of the season by stopping 27-of-29 in the game and 8-of-9 in the shootout. Kris Tebbs took the loss, making 11 saves on 14 shots and 7-of-9 in the shootout.

The Jackals next head back to the First Arena Friday March 4th for a 7:30 pm face off with the Fort Wayne Komets.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 3, 2005


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